• dudgeon •

Meaning: No, today's word has nothing to do with subterranean jails, but rather the mood of someone leaving one: a feeling of angry resentment, indignant or simply ill humor. At one time it also referred to the wood of the boxwood tree, a material favored for the handles of knives and daggers because of its curly grain and unlikelihood to splinter, hence dudgeon-daggers.

Notes: Because this word has fallen into some disuse, it has not developed a family. In fact, it is used today only in the phrase in . . . dudgeon, as in deep dudgeon, in high dudgeon, in great dudgeon. It may also be used as a verb itself: "You haven't been dudgeoning around your boss again, have you?"

In Play: Dudgeons are most often associated with unhappy departures that are usually measured in the extreme by the adjective before the word. In Little Women Louisa May Alcott wrote: "Slamming the door in Meg's face, Aunt March drove off in a high dudgeon." However, dudgeons arise in other situations, too: "I hope it will not put you in a dudgeon if I tell you that your purse doesn't match your dress."

Word History: The origin of dudgeon is covered by a rather thick veil of mystery. The best guess is that it was originally endugine. Then by a process known as 'apheresis', the loss of an initial vowel, it became dugine, and from there, dugeon, perhaps influenced by the spelling of dungeon. Endugine may (or may not) have come from Welsh dygen "malice, resentment" with an enhancing prefix en-, added for what reason, no one knows. If so, it would be related to Cornish duehah, duwhan "grief, sorrow". It is historically unrelated to dungeon so far as anyone knows. (I hope this paltry word history does not put George Kovac, who suggested today's rare but still Good Word, in a high dudgeon or, for that matter, even a low one.)

It seems "dudgeon" is almost always "high," almost never "low." But, why? The more we think about it, the less it makes sense. We use words and expressions about everyday experiences more often than we use those about experiences which occur less often. Experiences which give rise to "low dudgeon" are more common than those which give rise to "high dudgeon" for the same reason inflated phone bills and parking tickets are more common than assaults and batteries. (We hope.) Therefore, we would expect to see "low dudgeon" used more often than "high dudgeon." Yet, somehow, we don't.

The reason may be as simple as verbal snobbery. "High dudgeon" sounds more high class than "low dudgeon." Many of us would prefer--without admitting it--to exit a room in "high dudgeon" than in "low dudgeon." However, to quote Henry Higgins, "This Verbal Class Distinction, By Now Should Be Antique."

Besides having the virtue of utility, "low dudgeon" fits neatly into the language. For example, consider the idiom "do a slow burn" (to have a feeling of anger that gradually increases); to increase from "low dudgeon" to "high dudgeon."

In summary, there are many good reasons "low dudgeon" should immediately be put to common use, and no good reasons why it shouldn't. Please take the issue under advisement, and strike a blow for verbal equality the next time you vote.

Yours as ever,

MTCPredidentSociety for the Advancement of Verbal Equality ("SAVE")

Last edited by MTC on Fri Aug 09, 2013 10:37 pm, edited 12 times in total.

Meh.I ran across it in an Orson Scott Card novel: "Ender's Game", andthat for the first time in my reading. Or maybe it's just thefirst time I ever paid attention to it. The novel is to bea movie later this year. "meh" sounds very strange to me, evenwhen reading it. Just not this part of the country, I suppose.

I am reminded of the aristocracy's cruel indifference to grievances of the common man immediately before the French Revolution. "Meh, let them eat cake," one famously remarked. Likewise, we ignore the legitimate grievances of verbal rabble like "low dudgeon" at our own peril. Lacking a sympathetic ear, the disenfranchised may take to the streets. "Liberté, égalité, fraternité!" will be their battle cry. Lexical chaos could well result. Those who ride a high horse should take heed.

LukeJavan8 wrote:"Religieuse" {but I had to look it up: soeur is an odd word}.

But would this not mean only religious sisters, not simply women?

I'm looking for a gender-specific replacement for fraternity and brotherhood. Fraternité - Sororité?

I see what you are looking for. I don't know for sure, but Ithink 'religieuse' is feminine. I do some checking too. And Iwonder if the French are into political correctness, since all their nouns are either masculine or feminine?